Soap dishes and the like have been widely used in the prior art to retain a bar of soap while a person is bathing or cleaning at a sink or basin. Most soap dishes are undesirable because they retain water which forms pools in which an associated bar of soap is placed when the soap is returned to the dish. This substantially decreases the life span of the associated bar of soap as the soap continuously dissolves in the pools of water and thus, becomes softened. The next time the bar of soap is used, the softened portions of the associated bar of soap quickly wash away. Softened soap is also undesirable as it is messy to use and usually does not permit the soap to properly lather during use.
Prior art inventors have expended great amounts of effort in attempting to solve the foregoing problem. Thus, the prior art is replete with devices which attempt to retain a bar of soap in a relatively dry environment. In this regard, soap dishes including drain holes have been proposed. However, the use of these devices are limited to selected environments. Additionally, soap dishes of any type are undesirable as they take up valuable counter space.
Other soap retention devices which utilize pivotal members have been proposed to retain soap in a relatively dry environment, i.e., free from pools of water. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,036,204 to Enssle; 4,313,537 to Collet; and 4,435,030 to Haven.
However, these devices also have drawbacks. In this regard, the structure and operation of the devices disclosed in the foregoing patents are problematic in various respects. The present invention solves all of the aforementioned problems by providing a new soap holder including means for retaining soap between a plurality of coacting arms in a convenient and effective manner so that valuable counter space can be saved while prolonging the life span of an associated bar of soap.